A Tale of Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest.  Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One morning, Little Red Riding Hood asked her mother if she could go to visit her grandmother as it had been awhile since they'd seen each other.

"That's a good idea," her mother said.

"Remember, go straight to Grandma's house," her mother cautioned.  "Don't dawdle along the way and please don't talk to strangers!  The woods are dangerous."

"Don't worry, mommy," said Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll be careful."

But when Little Red Riding Hood noticed some lovely flowers in the woods, she forgot her promise to her mother.  She picked a few, watched the butterflies flit about for awhile, listened to the frogs croaking and then picked a few more.   Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much, that she didn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the forest behind her...

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the first of my fairy tale re-creations. Dianne Jordan and I decided to see if we could photograph our own versions of a couple well known fairy tales. Little Red Riding Hood was our first attempt and despite the rain I think that they came out very well. 

Thanks to my fellow photojournalism classmate Dianne Jordan and models Tracey Turner and Martin Bleazard for standing in the rain and being so patient through all the "Okay, now just one more". 

Cinderella and the Princess and the Pea (or in our case the Pear) are to follo

Livestock Trading

David Howard and Leon Schoombee sort the heifers from the bulls at the small holding of Cape Eastern Livestock, a livestock marketing company located in Alexandria, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 5 September 2011. 

Everyone has heard of stock traders and can recall scenes of secrecy, calculation and tension from movies like Wall Street circuit 1987, but not that many have heard of a livestock trader. Indeed there is a profession where people make their living trading in livestock and act as the middle man between farmers and potential buyers like abattoirs, butcheries and feeding lots. Given that livestock farming is the largest agricultural subsector in South Africa, an exploration into this profession is a valuable source of knowledge.


The Eastern Cape’s location and size give it considerable advantages when it comes to agriculture. With it 168 580 square kilometres of land the Eastern Cape is by far the largest livestock province in South Africa. It has 21% of the country’s cattle, 28% of its sheep and 46% of its goats. It is therefore not surprising that the province is littered with farming communities. One such farming community is centered around the seemingly small town of Alexandria. It is because this area is a hub of activity in terms of cattle farming that we find numerous livestock companies in operation.




Cape Eastern Livestock is one such livestock company that operates from the Alexandria area. It is a family run company with the owner David Howard working alongside his father, John Howard, and his colleague Leon Schoombee. Livestock traders literally trade in livestock, which means they buy and sell livestock to potential clients. Although Cape Eastern Livestock does have an office that is based at Howard’s home in Bushman’s River most of their work is conducted on the move and therefore in their vehicles and on their cell phones. 


Howard and Schoombee have the task of sourcing livestock on a daily basis. Farmers will contact them when they either have livestock to sell or are looking for more livestock for their farms. For example a client from Natal calls and asks for dairy heifers on the point of calving. They would first go around the district contacting the local farmers looking for heifers. If no one in the local area has available Howard would then widen his net to include the Western and Northern Cape. They would drive or fly down to evaluate the stock and judge whether the price is reasonable for the condition of the animals. They would take photographs of the stock and then contact the client. If the client is happy and wishes to go forward they would broker this deal on the client’s behalf. 


In the Alexandria area most of the livestock trading is cattle as majority of South Africa’s cattle ranches are found in the Eastern Cape, parts of the Free State and Kwa-Zulu Natal, Limpopo and the Northern Cape. The four major dairy breeds in South Africa are the Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey and Ayrshire. While popular beef breeds include the indigenous Afrikaner and Nguni and locally developed Bonsmara and Drakensberger.


On a daily basis Schoombee will collect cattle from the daily farmers to go to the abattoir. They refer to this as the ‘milk run’ and the cows that they collect will be at the end of their production. This could be for many different reasons such as faulty udders, not in calf or injured in the diary. These cows are branded with a paint brand and loaded to go to the abattoirs. The nearest of which is Rosedale Abattoir near Grahamstown. The abattoir will slaughter the animal and then provide Cape Eastern Livestock with the weights, brands and tag numbers of the animals so that they can check whether they are receiving the right numbers for the right farmers. These numbers are then processed in the office so that invoices can be generated and payments can be made.  


Another way in which Cape Eastern Livestock participates in the livestock industry is through cattle auctions, which they host once every two or three months depending on livestock availability. These auctions are mostly for slaughter stock so they are well attended by abattoir owners in the area.  


Livestock trading is an industry that is constantly on the move and adapting to the economic and agricultural climate. At present Cape Eastern Livestock is involved in moving dairy stock up into Natal and the Free State. Most of their stock is sourced out of the Alexandria, Humansdorp, Tsitsikamma and Western Cape area which results in a small family run business in Alexandria having a wide national reach and involvement. 

David spends a large majority of his day answering and making calls in order to source stock and advise clients. Cape Eastern Livestock buy and sell livestock for their clients as well as advise clients on marketing strategies for their livestock.

Leon is an agent for Cape Eastern Livestock and works closely with David. They are in constant contact throughout the day to ensure the smooth running of the company.

A Jersey calf peers out from the trailer which transported it and other calves to a farm nearby Alexandria. Cape Eastern Livestock was commissioned to source these calves and then transport them to the client.

Leon helps one of their workers offload a trailer of calves that was ordered by a local Alexandrian farmer. Checking that the right animals and the correct numbers are delivered or picked up is one of Leon’s main responsibilities.

Workers carry the calves to the pens where ownership will be transferred over to the client.

David takes down the weight of a load of heifers that Leon shouts out to him from the scale. David will then call the seller to confirm that the numbers that he has received are correct before reloading the truck to sent it to Port Elizabeth.  

Offloading a cattle link, sorting and reloading is a time consuming job as herding these large animals takes a certain kind of know how. Leon directs the farm hands in sorting the heifers from the bulls in order to check the numbers and weigh the animals.

A Holstein heifer waits to go into the stun box where it will be bolted in the forehead with a captive bolt pistol. This method is used for stunning animals prior to slaughter and is essential in preventing the pain and suffering of the animal during the exsanguination (bleeding) process. The captive bolt pistol results in a forceful strike to the forehead that will induce unconsciousness. 

After the bleeding process, where cattle is hung upside down by both hind legs on a processing line and the carotid artery and jugular are severed, the cattle’s hide and internal organs are removed and inspected for internal parasites and signs of disease. The carcase is then graded, stamped and put in the cooler room before being taken to local butcheries.

Cape Eastern Livestock hold cattle auctions at their small holding in Alexandria once every two months. Cape Eastern Livestock will source stock from farmers who are looking to sell or buy at their action.

Leon stands on the fencing to check that all the animals are in the correct holding pens as each pen will be auctioned off as a lot. Lots can consist of one or more animals and are considered sold as soon as the auctioneer declares the bid won.  

A farmer stands up to express his angry at not being seen by the auctioneer at a cattle auction hosted by Cape Eastern Livestock. The auction is open to the public but most of the buyers were from local abattoir as majority of the livestock being auctioned was for slaughter.

The auctioneer calls out bids at a rapid pace while David and Leon look out for people trying to bid at a cattle auction for slaughter. Each lot is brought onto the scale, which is built into the pen, so that the crowd can see both the animal and its weight.

After the auction has come to a close everyone enjoys some braai meat and drinks outside. This also allows buyers the opportunity to organise trucks or trailers to come and collect their newly purchased cattle.

Extreme Sport

Sports photography has always been an area of interest for me ever since I first flipped through the pages of an Olympic Games photography book and saw how you can capture moments that are so fluid and expressive using the human body as your tool. There is just something about sports and the people that participate especially on a professional level that humbles and impresses me immensely. 

So as you can then imagine I am always on the look out for a different sport to try my hand at photographing. Thanks to the amazing Kyle Robinson and Brad Janssen I got to take my first ever kitesurfing photos a few weeks ago. Now these two young gentlemen are both studying for a BJourn with me but they are also very (and I do stress the very) keen kitesurfers. Escaping Grahamstown on a regular basis for the beach is a popular hobby for the two of them and let's just says that for their degrees' sake it is good that Grahamstown isn't right on the coast. 

But I will say that they have opened my eyes to this awesome sport! It is an adventure surface water sport that many describe as a combination of wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing and para-gliding all in one adrenalin packed extreme sport. Not only is it a spectacular photographic opportunity as the kitesufers are able to come very close to the shore but it which looks like so much fun!! And this is coming from someone who is not a huge fan of swimming far out in the sea ever since the release of Jaws . 

So without further delay here are some of my favourite photos from the kitesurfing session at Cannon Rocks in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Thanks again to all the kitesurfers especially Kyle and Brad! Next time I will get even better photos! And of course a big thanks to Chwayitisa Nandisa Futshane for keeping me company on the beach.

Kitesurfers prepare there kites for a session at Cannon Rocks, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 24 March 2011, © Tarryn Liddell.  

Kyle Robinson holds the control bar with one hand during this move at Cannon Rocks at popular spot for Kitesufers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, 24 March 2011, © Tarryn Liddell. 

A local kite surfer shows off his tricks at Cannon Rocks, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 24 March 2011 © Tarryn Liddell. 

Brad Janssen propels forward at Cannon Rocks, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 24 March 2011, © Tarryn Liddell .

Brad Janssen rests on the beach at Cannon Rocks after a three hour kitesurfing session, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 24 March 2011, © Tarryn Liddell

Brad Janssen stabilises himself on the sand in order to maintain control of his kite at Cannon Rocks, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 24 March 2011, © Tarryn Liddell.  

Kyle Robinson takes off on a jump at Cannon Rocks, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 24 March 2011, © Tarryn Liddell .